Switch-point guard



Oct. 2, 1928.

A. T. PALMER" SWITCH POINT GUARD Filed Feb. 15. 1926 Patented Oct. 2, 1928.

UNNiTED STATES aLrHoNso T. PALMER, or CHICAGO. iLLINoIs. i

swiTcHoINT GUAnD.

This invention relates to a device for protecting the point of a railroad switch against wear by the wheels of trains passingy over the switch. The object of the invention is to vprovide a switch point guard which shall be of improved construction, economical to man- Iufacture and y efficient in operation, and in `which the wearing member may be easily removed and replaced, as required. y

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of yparts shown in the accompanying drawings and described in thenfollowing specification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. i In the drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railroad rail having a guard applied thereto, embodying one form of the present invention; 1

Figure 2 isa section on line 2 2 of Figurel; f i Y Figure 3is a topplan View of the railway rail and the end of a switch point showing the relation of the guard to the switch point. In the drawings, the numeral .1() designates a railway rail having a guard secured thereto. The guard comprises a stand 11 and a guard blade 12.' The stand 11 includes, a

plate 13 and reinforcing ribs 14 arranged in spaced relationl thereon. At the top of the Vplate 13 and extending longitudinally therei ,blade is driven into the notch from one end thereof and may be made to fit tightly so, that itl will be retained in placeby friction be- `tween thesides of the plateand the inner `surface ofthe notch. If desiredthe head 15 and platelmay be provided with registeringopening 17 in'which pins 18 may be driven to prevent longitudinal movement of `thejblade'within the notch. The loweredge of the plate 11 and the ribs 14 are `beveled to conformftotheinclination of the upperv suriface of the rail flange.` In like manner, the inner lip 19 of the head `15is beveled to fit the under surface of the head of the rail'. Spaced lugs20 extendinwardly from the lip 19 and have their upper edges vflush with the beveled upper face of the lip 19. Thestand 11 forms a strut which bridges the space between the lower flange and the head of the rail and is wedged into place between the inclined faces 15,;19726. `semi No. salsa f these4 mii para and is heid in posi-tin by bolts 21 which pass through openings 22 in the plate 13 and through openings in the rrail web. A spring plate 24 is fitted over the projecting ends of the bolts 21 and ,is clamped down by `a nut 25. plate 24 may be similar to that shown in my prior Patent No. 1,281,823, granted September 16, 1918. Thisplate, when the nuts 25 are tightened down, exerts continual spring pressure on thepboltsholding the stand 11 iirmly wedged into place, between the upperrand lower rail parts. The guard is secured to the rail with the endV of the blade 12 closely adjacent the end of the switch point to be protected, this point being shown l g at 26in the drawings.

Whena'railway train isapproaching the switch point 26 from the right, as shown in `Figure 1', the wheel flange will strike the blade 12 prior to engagementcwith the endv 1 of the switch point so ythat the wheel ange is directed onto the switch point without striking the endgof the point. In this way, the switch point is protected against wear and the life of the switch is greatly increased. Y

`The blade 12 is preferablymade of manganese steel as this material efficiently resists wear. After the blade has become worn, it may be easilyremoved by driving the pins 18 out of the holes 17 and then driving the blade 12 endwise from itssocket 16. A new blade may then be driven into place and the device is as goed vas new. i The stand 13 need not beremovedfrom its connection with the rail for replacingthe blade 12. `'l`he'stands will last indefinitely as they are not subjected to wear. After the rail has vbecome worn, suficiently to require its. removal, the stand ymay beu removed from .the rail and applied tothe new'rail substituted. The stand will,

in fact, outwear many rails and the replacement ofthe blades is simple and inexpensive since each bladerequires only a compara- .tively small amountrof material. The saving is very lconsiderable over the expense if f the standand blade were made of the same piece of manganese steel. v V

p In kFigure 2 of the drawings, the inner face of the blade is shownas lying fiat against the face ofthe ,ra-il. The blade is constructed with ,y

the upper edge bent inwardly toward the rail an amount slightly greater than shown in Figure 2. This will cause the ltop edge of the blade `to engage the rail face, but when the nut 25 is tightened, the blade will be sprung suiiiciently "to bring the entire'inner face against the face of the rail. This arrangement will insure close contact between the upper edge of the blade and the. face of the rail at all times.

l. A switch point guard comprising a supporting stand, and a removablewear member carried by said stand and held thereby adjacent the lateral face of the railway rail.

2. A switch point-guard comprising a stand arranged to be secured toa railway rail, said stand having a recess therein, and a blade of wear resisting material removably secu-red in said recess in position to engage the lateral face of the head of a rai-l. l

3. The combination with a railway rail,

`of a switch point guard including a supporting stand comprising* al strut member extending from the flange -to the head vof the rail,

-and a blade of wear resisting material ref lmovably supported by said strut member against the lateral face of the rail head.l

4.-. The combination with a railway rail, of afswitch point` guard secured to said rail, said guard comprising aj web member having tapered upper and lower edges arranged to engage the inner faces of the flange and head of said rail respectively,means for securing lsaid web member tosaid rail, and a removable blade of wear resisting vmaterial' carried by said web member adjacent the railjhead.

y5. The combination with a railway rail, vof a web member secured tosaid rai-'l and bridging the-space between adjacent faces of rail, said protector comprising a plate having'beveled 4upper and lower edges arranged," to fit between the flange and-headof said rail,

4bolts for securingsaidplate-to said rail, said platejhav'ing vertical -reinforcing ribs thereon, and a Aguardi member of wear resisting material projecting upwardly from the upper ,edge of said plate and yremovably secured `thereto.

7."The combination with railway rail, of a switch point guard secu-redthereto, said guard comprisinga stand extending from the upper' face of: the rail flange tothe lower face ofthe railfhead,-and a removablewearm-ember supported by the stand projecting upwardly from Vthe top thereof adjacent the side of said rail member.

8'. The combination with'a railway rai-l,

of a switch point guard secured thereto, said guard comprising a web having upper and lower-beveled edges engaging the lower face of the railhead andthe upper face of the rail iiange respectively, vertical reinforcingribs on said web, and a blade of wear resisting material projecting upwardly from the upper .edge of said web bearing against the side of said rail member.

9. The combination with a railwaygrail, of ay switch point guard secured to said rail, said guard comprising a supporting stand having a blade extending upwardly there? from adjacent the side face of the rail head,

and bolt-s for holding' said stand against said rail, said' blade having the top edge inclined towards said rail so that said/top edge vwill be resiliently held against lsaid rail by the;

head of the rail, bolts for securing said stand to said rail, and a spring plate for exerting yielding tension on said bolts. j

11. The combination with -a railway rail,

of a switch point protector comprising a-plate disposed against one said of said rail and' bridging the sides between thel flange and head of said rail, spaced boltsv extending through said plate and the web of said rail, a wear member removably supported by said plate adjacent the headof said rail, nuts for i' holding said bolts in position on said rail,

and. a spring plate interposed between said nuts and rail, said plate being curved to eX- yert resilient tension on said bolts.

12. The Combination with a .railway mi,"

of a switch point protector therefor comprising a plate disposed `against' the side of said rail andV having the upper yand loweredges thereof beveled to fit the inclined faces ofthe head andl flange ofsaifd rail respectively,said plate having lugs extending inwardly in contact with the lower face of said rail head, and having upright reinforcing ribs: on the outer 10ov Y.

face thereof, the upper edge of said plate hav- Y ing a longitudinally extending dovetailed slot therein, a wedge-shaped' tongue of wear-'resisting material disposed in. said slot and liftting against the lateral face of the rail head, and bolts extending through said plate and the web of said rail for holding said plate; in 'y position on said rail. l

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this 13th day of February, A. D. 1926.

aLrnoNso T. PALMER. 

